Gary Russell Jr. will defend  WBC crown in February

World Boxing Council featherweight champion Gary Russell Jr. will defend his featherweight World Boxing Council crown against undefeated Tugstsogt “King Tug” Nyambayar on Saturday February 8 live on SHOWTIME at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania leading a Premier Boxing Champions event.

Russell will defend his title for the 5^th time, while seeking to show again the skills and speed that have made him one of the world’s elite featherweight fighters.

He will be fighting versus the 2012 Olympic silver medalist “King Tug”, who quickly climbed the rankings.

Russell, from Capitol Heights, Maryland (30-1, 18 KOs) has held the WBC featherweight title since 2015 when he stopped multiple division champion Jhonny Gonzalez.

“I will defend my title against my mandatory challenger and I will show on February 8 why none of the other champions want to face me,” Russell said. “I am the current reigning champion”

The 31-year-old fighter is member of one of the main boxing families, as he is trained by his father Gary Sr and trains with his younger brothers, the undefeated super lightweight Gary Antuanne and Undefeated bantamweight Antonio.

Russell recently defeated former champion Kiko Martinez in May in SHOWTIME after previously defeating undefeated challenger Joseph Diaz Jr in 2018 in a local defense.

Nyambayar, 27 (11-0, 9 KOs) represented his native Mongolia at the 2012 Olympic Games, but now lives in the United States and is training in Las Vegas. Nyambayar got in the featherweight rankings after his extensive amateur career with victories over the then undefeated Harmonito Dela Torre and former interim champion Oscar Escandón. Most recently he won his first 12-round decision by defeating former champion Claudio Marrero.